Best Budget Bites: $9.49 Grilled Chicken Sandwich From Zakia Deli

The cost of things these days? Far too expensive! Inflation, labor, giddy price gouging from proprietors large and small—the boring factors are too numerous to count. To protect our readers, Racket recently launched the Best Budget Bites series, where we’ll showcase a toothsome, wallet-friendly food item that’ll actually fill you up. Have a nomination? Hit us up: tips@racketmn.com.

What: Grilled Chicken Sandwich
Where: Zakia Deli, 2412 Kennedy St. NE, Minneapolis
Availability: 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Friday; 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday; closed Sunday

The built-in appeal of Best Budget Bites is obvious. This growing list of sub-$10 food picks arms you, the hungry reader, with the ability to stuff your gullet on the cheap. *Summoning peak Ron Popeil voice*: But wait, there's more! The sneakier virtue of BBB is that it allows us to highlight local restaurants that aren't exactly new, not really that old, and yet deserve an attaboy—the types of places you don't often read about in Twin Cities food/drink media.

Consider Zakia Deli. David Maalouf opened the place in 2007, and it has since become a bustling lunch spot just south of northeast Minneapolis's Quarry shopping center. Zakia is named after Maalouf's mother, whose recipes form the backbone of the hybrid Lebanese/Greek/American menu. (Zakia and Assaad Maalouf began raising their seven children in Lebanon before the crew arrived in America.)

“Everything is from scratch," Maalouf, whose family worked at nearby Joe's Market & Deli before opening Zakia, told Food News Service in 2011. "We focus on the healthy, there’s not a lot of deep-frying. We buy all our vegetables and chop them. It’s a lot of work, but that’s why it’s good.”

And while Zakia Deli is indeed good, it's not bound to tradition. On Racket's recent visit, $12.99 meatloaf with veggies or potato sides was the day's special, though kabobs, mjadra, gyros, and baba ghanouj also proved popular with the fast-moving line of lunchers.

We opted for the No. 1 option on the sandwich board: grilled chicken.

Now, under most circumstances, that would be the most boring dish one could order, suitable perhaps for patients recovering from surgery and small, unadventurous children. But at Zakia, the sandwich is plussed-up in enticing ways.

Start with the homemade bun, which resembles a puffy Metrodome before its shell gets panini-pressed to crispy perfection. Inside, what appears to be expertly seasoned chicken thighs—the best part of the bird, fight me—retain peak juiciness underneath a avalanche of bright, crispy cabbage salad and tomato hunks. But the star of the show? A generous spread of richly pungent garlic sauce that you'll be tasting (and craving) the rest of the afternoon. It permeates everything, and is available for purchase via three differently sized/priced tubs.

There's a reason local Redditors call Zakia Deli a hidden gem.

"This place is the bomb," raves one of 'em. "Moved here from Detroit and spent over a year trying every Lebanese or Lebanese-adjacent restaurant in the Twin Cities so see if I could get shawarma approximating what you can get in Dearborn and this place is one of the closest."

Zakia's industrial location feels more like a passageway between the U of M area and Northeast, not a destination. But there's magic happening between Hennepin and Broadway avenues—just look for the lunch line.

BBB Hall of Fame

• $6 Ham ‘n’ Cheese Croissant From Heather’s
• $5 Bánh Mì From iPho by Saigon
• $5.50 Chicken Sandwich From Logan’s
• $1.25 Colossal Cinnamon Roll Doughnuts From Cub
• $9 Chicken Shish Taouk Sandwich From Ed's Deli
• $1.99 Corn Dog From Kowalski's
• $8.75 Egg Sandwich From Sun Street Breads
• $3.50 Tamales From La Loma
• $6.50 Breakfast Burrito From Lito’s Burritos
• $5.49 Roast Beef Sandwich From Wally's
• $7.50 ‘Mini’ Tacos Dorados From Mi Mexico Querido
• $9.99 Pasty From Milda’s Cafe
• $4.50 Slice and a Pop From Fast Eddie's Pizza
• $9 Cheesy B From Band Box Diner
• $6.99 Roast Beef Sandwich From Kevan's Penn Lake Roast Beef
• $5.80 Cheeseburger from Lions Tap
• $6 'Big Slice' From Lucca Pizzeria
• $8.75 Olive Burger From Sandy's Tavern
• $8.11 'Specialty Sandwiches' From Nelson Cheese & Deli
• $9.49 Chicken Sandwich From Zakia Deli